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Akitu
Location Babylon was situated in the area known as Mesopotamia (Greek for between the rivers). Mesopotamia was in the Near East in roughly the same geographical position as modern Iraq. Two great rivers flow through this land: the Tigris and the Euphrates. Along these two rivers lay many great trading cities such as Ur and Babylon on the Euphrates. Calendar The New Year began on the day called zag-muku -or- zagmûk, in the month of Nisan (March-April), and lasted 11 or 12 days. One source says the day began at 6 a.m. Another source says the day began at sunset. A third source lists the beginning at midnight. The month, and hence the year was controlled by lunar motion, adjusted to keep pace with the movement of the Sun. There 12 months of 29 or 30 days not set in a strict pattern and intercalary months of 29 or 30 days inserted to keep pace with solar motion. If in the spring, invariably 29 days. If in autumn, 30. These were by arbitrary royal decree and were formalized around 2050 BC. For several days the entire population focused on the ceremony which offered answers to the hopes and fears of the people. It was a complex ritual loaded with magical virtues to put an end to uncertainty of the human race. The festival resulted from the confluence of two powerful currents of religious thought, an extremely old Fertility Cult and the ‘sacred marriage’ ceremony. The Babylonian Creation Myths tell that man was created for the service of the gods, and this service was a very literal and material one. The gods liked to eat, drink, to dance and hear music. They needed sleep, had to be washed and dressed,and to be appeased with pleasant fragrances. For the Babylonians, their month began at the first visibility of the new moon. Schedule The Babylonian feast of Akitu took place in the month of Nisan, which falls in late March or early April according to our current calendar. *Nisan 2-4: Preparations and purifications. The tablets which were the original Source for the events of this festival are sadly silent for this day.However,the above calendar as indicated and published by Henri Frankfort in Kingship and the Gods suggest that the first four days of Akitu involved preparation and purification in the temple. *Nisan 5: Day of Atonement for the king; the populace descends to the suffering god;Increasing commotion in the city during the search for Marduk. *Nisan 6: Several gods arrive by barge at Babylon, among them, Nabu, the son and avenger of Marduk, who takes up residence in Ezida, his chapel in the Marduk temple. *Nisan 7: Nabu,assisted by other gods, liberates Marduk by force from the mountain of the Netherworld. *Nisan 8: First Determination of Destiny. The gods assemble and bestow their combined power on Marduk who thus obtains a destiny beyond compare. *Nisan 9: Triumphal procession to the Bit Akitu under the king’s guidance, representing the community’s victory taking place in nature, Marduk over Chaos. *Nisan 10: Marduk celebrates his victory with the gods of the Upper and Netherworlds at a banquet in the bit akitu, and returns to Babylon for his consummation of marriage. *Nisan 11: The Second Determination of Destiny. The gods assemble to determine the destiny of society in the ensuing year. *Nisan 12: The gods return to their temples. Customs During the first five days, the rites within the Esagila reflect the somber mood of the season. Each morning before sunrise the priest after a ritual washing entered the temple alone and prayed to Marduk and to other gods.Afterward the other priests commenced their daily tasks. This was more than just a fiction: in the craftsman’s house, the bit-mummu, where the images of the deities were made before they were housed in the temple sanctuary, they had to undergo special rituals before they were installed in their shrines. These rituals were called the mis-pi, mouth washing, or pit-pi opening of the mouth, by which they were imbued with life. The daily ritual in the shrine consisted of this washing, dressing, and feeding of the gods’images. The shrines were furnished with tables having two steps, on one of which flowers were placed, and on the other food and drink. There were also censers and braziers on which incense was burned. Pure water was sprinkled by the attendant priest to purify the shrine. It combined the great drama of Creation and the annual reinstatement of the king, and culminated in the gathering of all the gods who solemnly ‘decreed the Destinies’. Only then could the king go back to his throne, the shepherd of his flock, the peasant of his field. The world would exist for another year. On the day of the beginning of the year, the festival of Bau, were offered; one calf, one fat sheep, three lambs, six full grown sheep, two rams, seven pat of dates, seven sab of cream, seven palm buds. On the first five days of the New Year’s Festival there were many ceremonies of purification. These culminated when on the fifth day the King was taken, by the High Priest, to Marduk in the Temple of Esagila. The King had his insignia removed and he was then accused of crimes against the city of Babylon. The King was hit and then was forced to kneel and plead his innocence. The King then had his insignia restored. On the sixth day the statue of Nabu was taken from his temple in Borsippa, about ten miles from Babylon, and brought to his father’s, Marduk’s temple in Babylon. The great climax to the celebration was on the tenth day. Marduk, Nabu and many other gods assembled and went, by barge and road, to a place called Akitu house. Here a ceremonial battle took place showing Marduk overcoming the forces of evil. The gods then returned to the temple of Esagila. The king was stripped by the high priest, made to kneel and the priest would solemnly box his ears and tweak his nose. Toward the end of the ceremony, the king was reinstated. Taboos The first ten (or even sixteen) days of the year were observed as a kind of “lent”. No litigation could be conducted; physicians were not allowed to heal (at least on some days); fishing was forbidden; and the powers of the king were temporarily curtailed. Category:Festival Name Category:Middle East Countries Category:Lunisolar Category:Month begins on full moon Category:Fishing Category:Litigation Category:Medical Care Category:Sacrifice Category:Calf Category:Sheep Category:Lamb Category:Dates Category:Cream Category:Palm Category:Statue Category:Atonement Category:Purification Category:Incense Category:Washing